Laying the Foundation for Water-Efficient New Homes

What if you could buy a newly constructed house that was so water-efficient
it used only 80 percent of what an average new house in the United
States uses, without calling for any sacrifice? Well, soon, you
will have that choiceWaterSense is developing a program to
bring water-efficient homes to a neighborhood near you!

In pursuit of this goal, EPA will soon unveil its draft WaterSense
specification for new homes. The draft specification incorporates
EPA's criteria for product categories earning the WaterSense label
(toilets and faucets) and requires many other practices and technologies
aimed at bringing water efficiency into the entire home.

The movement to make new homes water-efficient couldn't be happening
at a better time. Residential water use accounts for more than half of publicly supplied
water in the United Statesmore than is supplied to both business
and commercial industries combined. In fact, a family of four uses
approximately 400 gallons of water every day. When final, this new
specification will hopefully provide a starting point for homeowners
to lower these staggering numbers and for builders to incorporate
water efficiency into all aspects of new home design. On average,
and of course depending on homeowners' water habits, a WaterSense
labeled new home will be designed to use about 20 percent less water
per year than other new homes built today.

In addition to WaterSense labeled toilets and faucets, as well
as other water-efficient plumbing devices, WaterSense labeled new
homes will feature ENERGY STAR® qualified
dishwashers and washing machines. They also will feature a hot water
distribution system that decreases how long hot water takes to get
to your tap. This will help prevent homeowners from running the
tap and shower while waiting for hot water, a practice that wastes
thousands of gallons of water per year.

WaterSense labeled new homes will be water-efficient outside, too:
if an irrigation system is utilized in the home, it must be installed
by a WaterSense irrigation partner, and the surrounding landscape
should feature native plant species that require minimal watering.

These new specifications can have a significant impact not only
on water efficiency but on energy efficiency as well. Water heating
accounts for 24 percent of the energy consumed in a household, and
an average household spends about $250 per year for hot water. If
one in every 10 homes in the United States upgraded to WaterSense
labeled toilets and faucets in the bathrooms, it could save more
than 120 billion gallons of water per year and more than $800 million
per year in household utility bills.

EPA expects to finalize its new homes specification at the end
of 2008. Stay tuned for the latest news about WaterSense New Homes
by visiting the WaterSense Web site.

Move Over, SpongeBob!

If you know kids who like SpongeBob SquarePants, they'll love the
new kids-only pages on the WaterSense Web site, complete with an
interactive game with its own cartoon hero. Get their imaginations
and water-efficiency awareness flowing with activities and questions
all about water:

How can you save enough water in a month to fill a huge fish
tank for six small sharks?

How does food coloring help test for leaks in toilets?

To find out answers to these questions and more, visit WaterSense
Kids. Here, Flo, our water-efficiency hero, teaches kids why
it's important to save water and how to use less. Kids also can
play "Test Your WaterSense,"
a Pac-Man-like game where they guide Flo through a maze. During
the game, they'll have to dodge the villainous Water Wasterslike
Sogosaurus, who doesn't care that she waters her lawn every day
of the week, Drip Drip, who won't fix his leaky faucet, Swirly,
who likes to flush his toilet all the time, and Drainiac, who runs
her faucet when brushing her teeth. The little squirts will become
WaterSense Heroes in no time!

Toilet Rebate Program Aids Drought-Stricken Georgia

Last October, the severity of Georgia's water situation became clear
when the Army Corps of Engineers announced that only a three-month
supply of water remained in Lake Lanier, metro Atlanta's primary
source of drinking water. Headlines from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
drove home the warning: "Drought forces cuts at gardening landmark,"
"Drought could move events from Piedmont Park," "Drought
could keep swimming pools empty," "Drought may outlaw
pools."

Despite recent spring showers, the drought still hasn't relented,
so residents, local governments, and water utilities are finding
new ways to use water more efficiently, often hidden in mundane,
everyday activities such as flushing a toilet. Soon after the Army
Corps announcement, WaterSense program partner Cobb County Water
System began working to ease the drought by offering a rebate to
encourage its customers in north metro Atlanta to install high-efficiency
toilets in their homes, and as a result lessen the demand on local
water supplies.

Customers can earn a $100 rebate on WaterSense labeled toilets
for up to three toilets per household. The program is available
for Cobb County Water System residential customers whose homes were
completed before 1993. To receive the $100 rebate, customers need
simply to refer to a list of toilets that have earned the WaterSense
label. Customers then fill out an application and return that to
the county with a copy of their original purchase receipt for the
toilet. The rebate appears as a credit on the customer's water bill.

As an alternative, Cobb County Water System also is offering a
$50 rebate to residents who replace pre-1993 models with 1.6-gallons-per-flush
(gpf) toilets, bringing these customers up to speed with the Federal
Energy Policy Act of 1992 that mandated low-flow (1.6 gpf) fixtures
in all homes. Already, Cobb County Water System has rebated more
than 2,000 toilets.

In addition, the worsening drought in the Atlanta region has helped
motivate other members of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning
District to adopt toilet rebate programs so that today customers
anywhere in the district can participate in the same toilet rebate
program. Thanks to these utility efforts, major retailers in and
around Atlanta now stock multiple WaterSense labeled toilet models,
where before they carried none.

How to Locate WaterSense Labeled Products

Having trouble finding WaterSense labeled products in stores near you?
Don't panic! Follow these pointers to find and order WaterSense
labeled plumbing fixtures:

Be Froogle. Visit Froogle,
Google's product search engine, and search "WaterSense."
You'll find a variety of WaterSense labeled toilets and faucets,
which you can purchase with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Buy Locally. Visit a WaterSense retailer or
distributor partner in your own backyard. Case-in-point: distributor
Ferguson Enterpriseshas 1,500 service centers and six distribution centers across
the United States and can usually ship products to customers within
two to three business days. Start your research on WaterSense's
Meet Our Partners page.

Know Your Options. Visit WaterSense partner
Home Depot's Eco Options home pageand click on the "Water Conservation" tab. Numerous
WaterSense labeled products are available for online purchase,
plus you will find a bunch of water conservation tips for home
improvers.

Once you find your product, make sure you follow these tips:

Think Twice. Many high-efficiency toilets are
sold in two parts. Make sure both the bowl and the tank are WaterSense
labeled.

Get the Specs. If you're searching for a specific
product, be sure you know the model name and number. You can find
all the specifics on the Find a Product
portion of the WaterSense Web site. Remember, for most toilets
you'll need two numbersone for the tank and one for the
bowl.

Be Particular. WaterSense partner Kohler lets
you refine your search for WaterSense labeled toilets by bowl
shape, flushing technology, and compliance to the Americans With
Disabilities Act. On Kohler's
home page,
select the drop down menu "Bathroom Products" and select
"Toilets." From there you can limit your search to high-efficiency
toilets with exactly the features you're looking for.

Remember, the best way to bring WaterSense labeled products to
your neighborhood is to ask for them! Let retailers and distributors
know that water-efficient products just make sense.

Hire a Pro After the Winter Thaw-Out

WaterSense irrigation partners can help homeowners reduce irrigation water by 15 percent or about 9,000 gallons annually—the same amount as a garden hose running nonstop for nearly a day.

As the weather warms and the ground thaws, now is an excellent
time to hire a WaterSense irrigation partner to inspect your
irrigation system. These professionals have completed a certification
program recognized by WaterSense for its emphasis on water
efficiency, and they can fine-tune your system for maximum
savings. Find a WaterSense
irrigation partner near you.

Ask the Irrigation Experts

Do you have questions about the best time of day to water?
Drip irrigation vs. micro spray jets? Ask a WaterSense irrigation
partner by e-mailing
your questions to WaterSense. We will post the questions
and responses from our irrigation partners on the WaterSense
Web site in July for Smart Irrigation Month.

Take a cue from one of your fellow WaterSense Current readers and
try this water-saving tip.

"My mother-in-law was sharing with me the other day that when
she fills the water for her bath, she begins by plugging the drain
and lets the water run until it gets hot (thus not wasting any water)
then she lets the 'hot' water run until it warms the cooler water
in the tub. I have always just left the drain open and let all that
precious water go down the drain until the water gets warm and then
plugged the drain. What a simple ideawhy didn't I think of
that!"